KTIV NewsChannel 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and SportsOil companies shop for discounted ethanol plants
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Associated Press - June 18, 2009 4:35 PM ET
FULTON, N.Y. (AP) - When Sunoco closed this week on the acquisition of a bankrupt ethanol plant for pennies on the dollar, it became just the latest oil refiner to step into the alternative fuels market.
Traditional refiners under pressure to reduce emissions are finding new avenues to meet evolving environmental standards, and finding big bargains along the way.
Sunoco made its initial bid just weeks after Valero Energy, the nation's largest independent oil refiner, became an ethanol plant owner the same way.
With Sunoco's acquisition this week, major oil refiners now control as much as 7% of the total industry capacity.
In April, San Antonio-based Valero bought seven large ethanol plants in the Midwest from bankrupt VeraSun Energy of Sioux Falls, the nation's second-largest producer of ethanol, for $477 million. Sunoco snapped up the $200 million Northeast Biofuels plant in upstate New York for $8.5 million.
By AP Writer William Kates
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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